Persona: Infinite Paradise
by Lucifer's Heir
Summary: A new adventure awaits the newly revived Minato Arisato as he gathers friends and allies, old and new, to fight against a new threat and uncover an unnatural conspiracy. :Ch 2 Rebirth:
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everybody. This is my first fanfiction ever so please stay with me. This is a direct sequel to Persona 4 with Minato Arisato as the main character and will follow my idea of canon in the series. Characters, elements, ideas and concepts from P3P, P4 the animation and P4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena may and/or may not be used in this story. Otherwise, original characters, concepts and storylines will be introduced as the story goes on. The story is rated T and will most likely be bumped to M at some point of the story, but will see.

Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own any rights to the Persona Series other than my original characters and concepts. The Persona Series rightful belongs to Atlus. No copyright infringement was intended. But if I did own it, Minato and Shinjiro would not have died!

**Chapter I: An Old End, A New Beginning**

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><p><strong>March 20,2012 - Mon - Daytime<strong>

**Yomotsu Hirasaka - Main Chamber**

In the final floor of Yomotsu Hirasaka, Souji Seta stood before the monstrous Izanami-no-Okami taking hit after hit of her attacks. She was baffled on how he was able to keep standing. Then Souji reached for his glasses and then tossed them to the side.

Light began to surround Souji as he lifted his arm, reached out for his persona card and grabbed it causing it to shattered. "Izanagi-no-Okami!" Souji shouted as his newly transformed persona appeared behind him. He's persona spun his sword charging up for and attack and Souji threw his arm forward. "Myriad Truths!"

A great light struck the rotting goddess and light engulfed the entire room. As the light faded, Souji saw that all of he's friends were around him as they all bared witness to a defeated Izanami who could barely move.

"This can't be... how could I be defeated?" Izanami questioned the group. "How am I the one to disappear? Instead of the endless struggle, wouldn't it be easier to wrap oneself in lies and live in blissful ignorance?"

"Isn't that true peace for humans?" Izanami desperately asked.

"How many times do we have to tell you? The hell with that shit!" Kanji shouted

"Stop assuming you know us!" Chie added

Izanami chuckled "Very well, Then try and live your way" she said. "Power enough to erase my existence... you have already exceeded what I thought humanity to be capable of. You have lifted the fog in this world, as well as the fog in your own. And whether that will lead to happiness or not... rests upon your shoulders."

"Children of man... Well done!" As she congratulated the team she began to fade away and then disappeared.

"Alright! We did it!" Kanji said as he pumped his arm.

"Thank goodness!" Rise said in relief

"It's really over now." Yukiko said in relief as well

"Yep! This time it's all over!" Chie stated happily

"It seems this is more like a beginning for us, though." Naoto commented

"Well now, we've got no regrets for tomorrow." Yosuke said

The Seekers of Truth gathered around each other finally able to accept what tomorrow will bring.

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><p><strong>March 20, 2012 - Mon - Daytime<strong>

**?**

As the group celebrated and acknowledged that their search for the truth was finally over, the image of them pans out from a lake in the middle of what seemed to be a forest thought it was hard to make out due to the area being shrouded in an intense, blinding light. Despite the bright atmosphere, there were seven silhouettes sitting down in front of the lake viewing the event that just occurred.

"That was rather disappointing." One of the figures said with a somewhat elderly voice.

"Man, if I actually paid to see that, I'd want a refund." Another figures said with a much younger tone.

"Indeed." A different figure said, this time the voice was notablely female. "I had fully hoped the Izanami would be powerful enough to annihilate those pitiful fools."

"Well it would have made things a lot easier." Said a completely differant and larger figure with a male voice. "Isn't that right Hope?"

The large figure turn to another smaller figure to which he asked the question to and was awaiting a response, however the figure did not answer nor speak.

"Whatever!" An even smaller figure said with a young childlike voice. "I could kill Seta blindfolded and the rest would drop like flies, I could go down there and do it if ya'll wanna see."

A different figure then chuckled at the smaller one's claim. "So eager to prove yourself, do you feel the need to impress us little one?" the chuckling figure said.

Those words angered the small figure who at that point pulled out what sounded and appeared to be a gun. "Why would I want to impress you fatass! I'd rather make you beg for mercy!"

Then a new figure entered the circle "Enough." said the new figure with a calm woman's voice. "There shall be no violence within our sanctuary."

The small figure lowered his weapon and huffed. "You're not worth my time anyway! Speaking of time, I'm sick of just sitting around doing nothing! When do we get to do some shit?"

"I agree." The former female figure said. "All this talking is pissing me off."

"Patience."

A new voice was heard from a high distance and apparently where the great light was coming from. "Patience, my brothers and sisters. The time draws near for us and all of the pieces are nearly in place."

And with a deep breath he continued. "Soon we will save the innocent, and venture to the new world!"

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><p><strong>? - ? - ?<strong>

**The Great Seal**

The ground was covered in golden mist as the Great Seal stood between humanity and the all-powerful Nyx. The eyes of the giant door moved back and forth while in the center was the seal lock in the form of the boy would gave his soul to create and hold it together. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive dark monster with two heads known as Erebus appeared in front of the seal and reaches out and grabbed the stone lock. No matter how hard the beast tried to pull the lock off with all of its strength it wouldn't budge.

Erebus roared in frustration until it realized it was being surrounded by glowing card. As the beast tried to figure out where the cards were coming from, a shout was heard from behind it.

"Seal Substitution!"

As those words were said, the cards glow became brighter and ingulfed the monster and the stone lock in light. The young woman who cast the spell stood in anticipation hoping that her plan had worked. She was breathing heavily as she was obviously exhausted and her blue dress was torn in severel places and had red stains from the blood dripping from her head and mouth. After a few seconds the monster emerged from the light and charged at the woman.

She quickly reacted by drawing a card from a book she was holding. "Masakado, Megidolaon!" She shouted as the card shattered and her persona emerged in front of her in the form of a man with face paint with flowing dark blue hair with a sword in his hand. Masakado unsheathed his sword and a ball of light shot from the sword towards the charging beast's head. On impact it exploded and Erebus' head along with half of its body distegrated leave the remaining half to roar in pain.

Rather than trying to attack again, Erebus dived back into the mist to recover. Masakado disappeared and the woman sighed in relief. She then walked over to a coffin wrapped in chains to lay her book down and examine a deck of cards.

"It nearly worked, I just need more time." she said quietly to herself. "Or at least it is the one plan that has shown the most progress so far."

She continued to examine her cards and arranged them from the Fool Arcana to the World Arcana. "I just have to keep trying again, and again. I refuse to quit now." She told herself while rubbing the blood and sweat of her face.

Suddenly the ground shook as a newly recovered Erebus emerged from the mist an charged directly towards the woman. The woman was unable to react in time and she, the coffin, her book and the cards were sent flying several feet from the force of Erebus' Vicious Strike and head first into the ground. The attack left the young woman breathless as she tried with all of her might to get back up as her cards flowed around her.

As she started to catch her breath, she examined the situation. The cards landed around her so she knew where they were. The coffin was undamaged due to the enchanted chain and was not far from her as was her book. She staggered to her feet, swaying a little and saw the one head of Erebus growl at her and the other glaring at the seal.

"It's recovering much faster than usual." She stated as she started to cough up blood. She held her gloved hand over her mouth to keep it from spilling over and then looked at her now bloody gloved hand. "If only... if only I could obtain the Universe Arcana. I've tried even with his bonds, but I can't." She said to herself.

Erebus then ignored the young woman and went towards the seal. The woman kneeled down to collect the cards around her and staggered to the coffin to lean on it. She picked up her book and held it to her chest.

"Focus Elizabeth, you just need to be patient." she told herself. "This will work, I know it will."

When Elizabeth took a deep breath, she felt a very strong presence directly above her. Erebus felt it as well as both it and her looked up and saw something odd. An enormous white double door appeared covering the sky, although it was difficult to tell it was a door until it open and bright light shined from the inside. As the door fully opened, a gigantic white arm emerged from the door and pressed down on the door panel.

Another arm that was just as huge emerged and pressed on the other door panel. Elizabeth and Erebus stood in anticipation of what the mysterious being was, though still remained cautious. The two arms pushed on the panels to pull out its enormous head and torso out of the doorway. The white colossus was very muscular as were the arms that came before it, it had no mouth but it had a large set of curved tusks and it's eyes were closed.

The colossus looked around curiously until Erebus caught it's attention by roaring at it and seemed to be charging up for an attack. In response, the colossus began to grow a zigzag like mouth on its face which was previously mouth less. Now with its newly made mouth, a powerful monstrous roar was let out by the colossus that the impact was so great that Erebus shattered in to dust.

Thought Elizabeth was quite far away from it, the sound wave of the roar reached her and knocked her back a little. "Such power!" she said. "It destroyed Erebus without even touching it!"

The colossus' mouth began to disappear and now set its sights on the Great Seal. It balled its left hand into a fist then pulled its arm back preparing to punch. As it did, it's fist and forearm started to change from white to black. After seeing what it did to Erebus, Elizabeth didn't want to wait to see what was going to happen next.

She drew a card from her book and it shatted. "Persona!" She shouted as Masakado reappeared awaiting Elizabeth's orders. "Destroy its arm!" Elizabeth ordered. With that Masakado flew towards the left side of the colossus and set aim for the arm. Masakado unsheathed his sword and a ball of light shot from the sword just like before soaring straight towards the forearm. It hit and the explosion covered half of the arm, but as the light lifted it appeared to have no effect.

"I-Impossible not even a bruise." Elizabeth said to herself. Before she could react any further the colossus' fist charged straight towards the center of the seal. Elizabeth ran towards the seal until she built up momentum to levitate off the ground and fly. She flew with all her might, but ultimately the colossus was much faster and it punched directly at the seal lock and the impact created a giant hole in the seal.

Elizabeth stopped as she witness in horror of what just happened. The colossus pulled his fist out the newly made hole and pieces of the seal began to spew out and its arm started to become white again. Elizabeth watch as the debris fell and noticed piece of the seal lock, most notably the head.

"Minato!" She shouted as she flew toward the wreckage and ignoring the colossus. She managed to catch the head but there were too many pieces around to catch. Fortunately, Masakado was still around and started to collect what fragments he could.

With the seal lock gone, the golden gate began to crumble and a dark aura rose from the other side. The colossus' eye opened slightly and then a dark ball of energy shot directly at its face causing a massive explosion. Elizabeth turned away and Masakado shielded her as they both tried to move out of the way.

After a minute the explosion had lifted and Elizabeth was once again shocked that the colossus seemed unharmed. "Inconceivable." She said to herself. Still unfazed, the colossus' chest began to open wide and tentacles started to pour out and went straight towards the darkness. The tentacles then started to pull back as it dragged the very soul of Nyx with it and she was close enough for the colossus to grab with both hands.

The colossus shoved Nyx into its chest, but before she was completely inside something came out of her. A ball of darkness fell into the gold mist and disappeared. With that Nyx was sealed inside the colossus as it's chest closed up.

Elizabeth was at awe with what she had witnessed. Suddenly a white aura began to leak out of the stone head she was carrying as well as the fragments Masakado was holding. The aura gathered in front of her and began to take form of a soul.

"Minato." Elizabeth said as she reached out to it. A shadow was casted over her and she looked up to see it was the gigantic hand of the colossus reaching out towards her and Minato's soul . In responds she stood in front of the soul and shielded him with Masakado beside her.

"You shall not have him!" Elizabeth shouted as the hand came closer and closer. She did not know what to doing as she knew none of her spells will affect it and all she could do was close her eyes and clench her teeth.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a swarm of blue butterflies of light surrounded Elizabeth, Masakado and Minato's soul and stopped the colossus' hand from moving any further. Then a blue silhouette of a man appeared in front of Elizabeth. "You are..." She started to say.

The silhouetted man then snapped his fingers and the butterflies shined brightly and then teleported away from the colossus leaving it all alone.

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><p><strong>? -? - ?<strong>

**The Velvet Room**

Within the Velvet Room which has now become just an empty blue room with just a long chair and table, Igor and his assistant Margaret had their eye closed sitting quietly. Igor's eyes then busted open and he stood up. "Master, is everything alright?" Margaret asked as the sudden movement of her master surprised her.

"I can't believe it." Igor said. Margaret herself stood up wondering what was going on in her master's mind. Suddenly, an entrance appeared in front of the two residents and servel butterflies flew out of it.

Igor walked closer to the new entrance and smiled. "You've returned, Master!" He said with delight.

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><p>AN: First chapter completed. Please review and let me know what you guys think. Your reviews, follows and favs will encourage me to post out chapters faster and improve my writing skills. To be honest, this was supposed to be finished and posted last December but things got busy and I was sidetracked. So when better than to post this on the Promised Day. Pray that the moon doesn't crash down upon us tonight. The ending is still uncertain, that is if I can make it that far. But I will do my damndest to complete this story. Chapter 2 is on the way so please stay tuned!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here's chapter 2 comin at ya! I've been having trouble with the site and I had to repost this story multiple times. So I hope that this will stick and I must deeply apologies to all who reviewed. So please enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter II: Rebirth**

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><p><strong>? - ? - ?<strong>

**?**

Darkness was all that could be seen and it was unsure of what was happening. Suddenly a bright light appeared off in the distance and the area now looked more like a tunnel. As the light shined brighter at the end of the tunnel, two figures suddenly appear within the light and stood side by side.

"Minato, is that really you?" said the taller male figure.

"My god, y-your all grown up." said the smaller female figure.

The two figures stepped a little further as the light became slightly bright and the female figure drew her hand outward. "Listen Minato, you need to come into the light. Your father and I are waiting for you. We've missed you so much." She said.

The image of the figures drew closer and closer as the light became brighter and warmer.

"That's it, your almost there." The male figure said. Suddenly, a rumble was felt the image of the figures began to pull back. "What's happening? Where are you going?"

"Wait, come back Minato!" The female figure shouted desperately. "Wait, Minato!"

The figure's voice began to fade and the image of them and the light fade as away. Once again, there was only darkness.

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><p><strong>? - ? - ?<strong>

**?**

Darkness lifted as the young man began to slowly open his eyes. It was quiet and he could only hear his own heartbeat and breathing. His body was numb and couldn't move but as far as he could tell he was naked, lying on his side in a fetal position and surrounded by blue light.

Many questions raced through the young man's head. First was the obvious, where was he and why was he awake. It was safe for him to assume that if he was conscious and in human form then the Great Seal no longer exists. And if so, was it a good sign or a bad one?

He started to remember what happened right before he fell into his deep slumber. He remembered being on the roof of Gekkoukan High School on graduation day while the calm spring breeze blew cherry blossom petals in the air. He was lying in Aigis' lap as they both awaited their friends to unite and celebrate their victory and recovered memories. Time for him was running short for him however, as the remainder his soul clung to his body just to see his friends one last time before becoming fully one with the seal.

Minato gazed into Aigis' eyes as she told him that she would live for him, protect him and remain by his side. He smiled as he heard her words and reach towards her crying face to wipe her tears away telling her that it'll be okay. She held his hand and looked down at him with her beautiful smile that Minato loved to see. Perhaps it was he's fading vision, but for some reason Aigis looked more and more human and her robotic features somehow disappeared.

Suddenly voices and footsteps were heard from the stairway and both of them knew that they all remembered their promise. As much as he wanted to see them, he could feel his time coming with he's eyelids growing heavier and his consciousness slowly fading. Aigis told him to rest as she and his friends would be here with him and even though he knew he won't be here when they arrived, he was glad that they were all safe and happy. Accepting his fate, he closed he's eyes and smiled as his soul drifted towards the seal.

Minato's mind returned to the present and realized that when he was the seal he was unable to dream during he's slumber. But that light and those two figures, wasn't that a dream he asked himself. And now here he was awake and in physical form with many unanswered questions. But one thing was for very clear, he wasn't going to get any lying down motionlessly.

He began to move his finger trying to rid the numbness. After a few minutes he was able to move he's arms and after that his legs. He then gather his strengh to strech out his legs and used his arms to push himself to now lie on his back. He waited for a while then used both his arms and legs to push his upper body upward so he could now be sitting.

Now that he was sitting up, he took both his hands to rubbed he's face and stroked his hair to fully awake up. Minato looked around to analyze he's surrounding and came to conclusion that he was inside a small but spacious container of some sort and the roof of it could be touched while he was sitting. At first he thought it was a box, but on further inspection he noticed that it was more of a spherical structure and thought it was bubble.

He pressed his hand on the surface of the roof and noticed that it felt solid yet somehow soft and stretchy as well. He rubbed both his hands on the surface trying to examine the structure and what it was made of though clay was the only thing that came to mind. Nevertheless, he realized that the only way he was going to get out was to tear an opening so he used both hands to grab a piece of the top and pull horizontal.

Minato gather all the strength he could to his arms and hands as he stretched the roof as hard as he could. Within seconds there started to show progress as he was able to make a small hole and he could see the light of the outside. He winced a little as the light took him by surprise and was notably normal light in contrast to the blue light that surrounded him. He quickly shrugged it off and pushed both his hands into the hole and pushed the sides to create a wide opening.

Now that the hole was large enough to exit out of, the only thing that was left was to stand up. He used both arms to support his weight as he pulled his legs towards himself and placed his feet on the ground. Then he pushed his body and managed to stick a crouching position by grabbing his knee. Finally, he slowly lifted his body up and squinted his eyes so the light from the outside wouldn't faze him again.

Little by little, Minato rose out of the hole but still kept his eyes slightly closed as they adjusted to the lights. His vision was a little blurry but as far as he could tell he was indoors and more importantly someone was standing in front of him a few feet away.

Minato started to speculate who the individual was but could tell that they were wearing a blue attire. He's vision became clearer and more focused after a few seconds and realized that figure was female and had her arms crossed. She was wearing a blue dress with five black-lined circles inside small yellow circles in the front, blue gloves and black legging with blue boots. He automatically knew who she was as he looked up and saw her short white hair, wearing a small blue hat, her pale face with golden eyes and smiling.

"Sleep well?" She asked calmly while staring into his now fully opened eyes.

"E... liza... beth." Minato tried to say with a dry voice while rubbing his throat.

"Good to see your memory is in tacked." She responded. Elizabeth crouched down to grab a bottle of water that was next to her and then presented it to Minato. "Here, no doubt you're thirsty."

He accepted the bottle and removed the cap. "Thanks." he said right before chugging all of the water within the bottle. He exhaled after he was done and felt very refreshed

Elizabeth took the now empty bottle then turned back and began to walk away from Minato. "Wait." He said wondering where she was going though it was apparent that she was heading towards a door that he didn't relize was there at first.

She stopped and turned her head towards him. "There's a set of clothes for you to wear to your left" She said while pointing at a chair with folded clothes on top and a large standing rectangular mirror in the left corner of the room. "Also, there is a special ticket inside the right pocket. Hold on to it."

Elizabeth walked closer to the door and opened it. "When you exit from here, simply follow the lamp posts." She instructed. "I shall await you in the Velvet room."

And with that, she lefted the room and closed the door behind her. Minato was still unclear about what was going on, but figured that he could ask all the questions he want to once he got to the Velvet room. He steadily raised his right leg over to the outside and his left leg soon followed. Now that he was out of the bubble and looked back at it, it looked more like a cocoon or an egg.

In any case, he slowly made his way towards the corner where the mirror and clothes were. When he got there he stood in front of the mirror and carefully examined himself. He looked exactly the same as he was before he fell into he's deep sleep leading him to ponder on why that was. He saved this thought for the Velvet room and concentrated on getting his clothes on.

Within a few minutes, Minato was fully dressed and everything seemed to fit. He looked in the mirror to see if his clothes was on straight. He was wearing a black collared long-sleeved shirt and blue tie under a blue suit with four black and yellow circles similar to Elizabeth's on the abdomen, black pants with blue lines running through the sides, and black shoes. To add the finishing touches he fixed his dark blue hair so his right eye would be visible under his bangs and placed his hands in his pockets while leaning back a little to gain his normal posture.

He felt the ticket in the right pocket that Elizabeth mentioned and pull it out to look at it. It was shiny bright blue and blank on both sides. He placed the ticket back into his pocket along with his hand and started to walk towards the door. Slowly opening the door revealed the outside and apparently it was night time and foggy. Minato stepped outside and closed the' door behind him and looked around and noticed that the door he exited stood by itself unattached to any house or building similar to the doors that led to the velvet room.

Minato started to walk forward opposite of the door to look for the lamp post that Elizabeth mentioned. Sure enough, a lamp post lid up as he approached it and another one lid up across from that one. He simply followed each lamp post as one lid up after another in a straight row. The area he was in was rather open and desolate as he had not seen anything other than the lamp post since he left the room. Perhaps it was due to the fog and lack of light he thought to himself as he continued to walk towards he's ninth post.

Just as he reached his tenth and seemingly last post, he saw a glowing blue building in the distance. Minato assumed that was his destination and walked in that direction. When he reached the front of the building he realized that it was a broadway theatre and the signboard label 'Velvet Room' in bright blue letters and 'Now Playing' right below it. Wasting no time he walked toward one of the double doored entrances, opened the door and went inside.

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><p><strong>? - ? - ?<strong>

**The Velvet Room**

Inside Minato stood in what appeared to be a blue lobby when suddenly he was approached by someone. It was a tall bald man wearing a blue usher outfit complete with hat, white gloves and black shoes. What stood out most about the man though was he's dull pale face and plastered on frown. "Ah, right on on time." He said to the blue haired boy.

"Your ticket?" The usher asked as he held his hand out.

Minato pulled out the blue ticket out of his pocket and looked at it and then looked at the usher. "I was told to hang on to it. Do I give it to you?" He asked.

"Do you want to give it to me?" The usher asked in return which left young man somewhat bewildered. Minato thought carefully about this and wonder if the ticket had a deeper meaning.

The blue haired boy then placed the ticket back in his pocket. "On second thought, I think I'll keep it for now." He stated.

"Very well." The usher said. "Please follow me. I shall show you to your seat." The frowning usher said as he began to lead Minato to a hallway straight across from the main entrance.

At the end of the hall, the blue haired boy was now in the theatre which was huge and most likely the main room. The auditorium was entirely blue just like the lobby with hundreds if not thousands of empty seats in many rows in front of a large stage that currently had its blue curtains down. As the Minato followed the usher he looked around and saw that there was a balcony and even boxes above him. The stage curtains began to rise up as he and the usher approached a small staircase that lead up to the stage.

The curtains rose completely by the time Minato and the usher walked on stage viva staircase. Before them were three individuals and a table and an empty chair. A long nosed old man wearing a black suit with white gloves sat in front of the table was clearly recognized as Igor by the blue haired boy. On the right side of him was Elizabeth who stood with her arms crossed with a gentle smile on her face. However, on the left side of Igor was someone who he had never seen before.

A beautiful and elegant looking woman with wavy semi-long platinum hair wearing a blue long-sleeved dress with eight blue and gold button like accessories on it, a blue belt, black pantyhose and blue high heel shoes. The usher escorted Minato to the empty chair and the young man took his seat in front of the three residents.

"Welcome back to the Velvet room, my dear young man!" Igor said with delight. "I do believe that this is the first time a guest has returned even after fulfilling their contract."

"Nice to see you again, Igor." Minato said with a subtle smile.

"I'm flattered that you remember me." Igor said with his usual grin. "No doubt you remember Elizabeth as well. But as you can see, there are new faces among you."

Igor looked to his left side to the elegent woman. "This is Margaret. Elizabeth's older sister and my new assistant." The long nosed man informed the blue haired boy.

"I am Margaret, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said while looking directly into Minato's eyes.

"And beside you is Victor." Igor said causing the young man to look to his left side and at the usher. "His role will be revealed in the near future."

Victor simply bowed. "I live to serve. No more, no less." He stated.

Igor's attention turned back to Minato. "No doubt you have many questions. And normally I would be the one to explain what has come to past." He said while still grinning. "But my master wishes to speak to you personally about this matter."

"You're... master?" Minato questioned in surprise. He couldn't quite picture Igor being an underling to another.

"Indeed. I have not seen Philemon in many, many years." The long nosed man explained. "As I said, he will speak to you of many things and awaits you in his domain."

Minato nodded his head. "Okay then, where do I go?" He questioned.

"Just close your eyes." Igor instructed. "He will summon you."

The blue haired boy closed his eyes as told and suddenly after a few seconds felt a shock that made him twitch a little. Something seemed strange as he couldn't sense Igor or any of the other residents around him. So he started to open his eyes.

* * *

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**Philemon's Domain**

When Minato's eyes were fully open, he's surrounding was completely from the Velvet room and he was standing instead of sitting. Looking around he saw that the floor had black and white checker patterns with a butterfly symbol in a circle in the center of the floor. He also noticed four golden pillars that supposedly supports the structure he was in. Which led him to look outside of the tower-like structure to see the dark abyss. Suddenly, a swarm of blue butterflies circled around the center of the room and within the swarn was one golden butterfly the begin to morph into a person.

The swarm scattered and faded away as the golden butterfly had taken the appearance of a masked man. He's gold butterfly mask covered the top half of his face while his blue hair was slick back and tied into a ponytail. Other than that, he wore a blue long sleeved turtle neck shirt, blue pants and blue shoes. He looked at Minato with his sharp eyes and smiled.

"Minato Arisato, Welcome to my domain." He said. "I am Philemon. It is good to see you again."

"Again?" Minato replied. "I don't believe we've ever met."

"Well to be more precise, I was not in this form at the time." Philemon stated. "It was when I bestowed upon you the Wild Card years ago."

"Huh?" Minato exclaimed. "Wait, you gave me the Wild Card?"

"Yes. As I did with the ones that came before you and your successors." The masked man answered. "Although, your abillity developed more rapidly than I expected. Be it due to Death that was sealed inside you or... something else is a mystery."

Philemon stepped forward somewhat but remained in the center of the room. "So how are you adjusting to your new body?" The masked man asked.

Minato raised his arms in front of himself and examined the front and back of his hands. "So this _isn't_ my real body." He said to which Philemon smiled noticing that his sentence did not sound like a question.

"Well your original body was in no condition for you to survive inside." Philemon stated. "Besides, I doubt a mortal body would suit you anyway."

Minato's attention turned back to Philemon as he began to elaborate. "Not only did you find your answer to life, but you also achieved the Universe Arcana. An arcana... even I do not control." The masked man said with a somewhat troubled tone.

"By doing so, you asended into godhood and enlightenment." Philemon continued. "In other words you a now a deity like myself."

"I see." Minato said. The young newly announced god started to stretch his legs and arms. "Well I do fell a little stronger, but not so much omnipotent."

Philemon quietly chuckled. "Well you would be if you had not locked the Universe Arcana within yourself apon sealing Nyx." He replied. "Currently, you can only use 10% of it. But I suspect that if certain circumstances are met, you will be able to unlock it again."

Minato was rather surprised by the fact that Philemon knew that he locked the Universe Arcana away. He did so to ensure that no one could steal it from him and use it to destroy the seal to get to Nyx. "You're very observant." He said to the masked man.

"I have to be. It is my duty to observer humanity of course." Philemon said with a smile.

"Well since your so all-knowing, I have a mountain of question that need answering." The young deity said with his arms crossed.

"Ah yes, I did forge that body of your to make small talk." Philemon stated. "Your world is in danger. No one is aware, but there is a nefarious plot afoot."

"For several months now, humans in both the realm of consciousness and unconsciousness have been disappearing or outright killed." The masked man continued. "No one pays any mind due to the fact that the victims are random and no normal human can see the pattern of events clearly. I believe that whoever is committing this acts are also the ones who destroyed the Great Seal and captured Nyx, no doubt conspiring to use her in some way."

Minato placed his hands back in his pockets and stepped forward to Philemon. "If their powerful enough to not only break my seal, but also to overthrow Nyx, then their definitely a threat" He said in a serious tone. "Do you know who they are? What they want?"

"No." Philemon answered simply. "No clear cut motives, no way to track them, not even a clear identity. Their very good at hidden and covering their tracks and I was only lucky to catch them this time. However, I believe I have found the method they use to abduct human souls. Which is where you come in."

The masked man raised his hand out to Minato. "This is my task for you, Minato." He said. "Investigate this matter and with luck, you might actually catch them in the act. So, will you do this for me, Minato Arisato?"

"If your so concerned about this, why don't you do anything about it." Minato inquired.

"I am a neutral observer. I cannot directly interfere in the matters of humanity." Philemon answered. "Finding you and bring you back was a small exception. It had to be done though. You're the only one who can do this."

"Well you did say that I have successors." Minato remarked. "Why bring me back insted of asking them for help?"

"Your unique, Minato. Not just in skill or power, but in heart, spirit and dedication as well." Philemon explained. "And if anything else, when the culprits captured Nyx they attempted to capture you as well. That is reason enough for you to be involved."

Minato looked down on the checkered floor for a few seconds, and then looked back at Philemon. "Alright. If the situation is as bad as you say, I'll find whoever's doing this and stop them." He declared with a serious face.

"Glad to hear it." The masked man said. "But before you do anything, their one matter that needs attending." Philemon snapped his fingers and a ball of blue light appeared in front of Minato. He held his hands out as the light began to take shape in the form of a scythe designed for combat. It fell into the young deity's hands and he examined the weapon.

"No doubt you're a bit rusty in battle, so let's practice a bit." Philemon said. "We don't have much time, but the least I can do is go over the basics."

"Not what I'm usually used to." Minato said as he twirled his new scythe over his head and then rest it on his right shoulder.

"You'll adapt as you always have." Philemon replied. He snapped his fingers again and four large butterfly heraldic kite shields appeared. Minato stepped back and prepared to fight.

"Whenever you're ready." Philemon announced. Minato took a deep breath and then began to charge at one of the shields. The shield he was charging at shot a lightning fast laser bolt, but Minato effortlessly avoided it while keeping his charging speed. Another shot was fired at him and evaded the second bolt just as easily. Minato was in range and swiftly drew his scythe with both hands and used a downward slash that cut the shield like butter.

The shield shatter after being cut and one of the other shields charged towards Minato from behind. He swiftly turned, lifted his scythe and swung upward slicing the shield clean in half. The two pieces split apart passing Minato and shattering masked man smiled at the display. "Not what your used to, eh?" Philemon said echoing the younger deity's previous statement. "Perhaps you're not as rusty as I thought."

There were two shields left with one of them pushing forward towards Minato. "Now is the time to use your greatest weapon." Philemon said. "Summon your Persona!"

"I don't have an evoker." Minato stated while looking at Philemon

"You should know that you don't need one." The masked man replied. "Look deep inside of yourself. Draw out your potential and shape it to your will!"

Minato looked back at the shield nearest to him then closed his eyes, pressed his left index finger and middle finger together and placed them on his forehead while holding his scythe in his right hand behind himself. He calmly concentrated on bring out his energy and could hear his heart beating getting loader and loader. Suddenly, he heard a ring in his head and his body became light and warm. The feeling was familiar yet different, but he knew that he found his power and slowly lowered his left arm and fingers off his forehead.

He's energy was visible and the aura began to rise from his body and skin that appeared like steam or flames. Minato slowly opened his eyes revealing that his blue eyes were glowing at that point he started to smile.

"Per... so... na." Minato said with a heavy breath. His blue and black flame-like aura burst from both sides of his body and started to take a physical form. On his right side, the aura morphed into a tall white and silver male figure who had four arms, the lower ones were held together and shaped like wings, the upper right hand clasping his chest and the other was holding four coffin lids by a chain. His hair was similar to Minato's except platinum and longer in the back, his visible eye was red and a big white cloth wrapped around his neck.

On Minato's left side, the aura morphed into another male figure but much more monstrous in appearance. Wearing a black full body suit covering him head to toe with white gloves and white thigh high boots, on his waist was a long black cloth held by a gold buckled belt with a long sword and sheath, eight coffins chained to his shoulder like a cape floating behind him, and a metal mask on the top of his head with a metal jaw attracted.

The two personas were floating behind Minato on each side at which point he notice that he summoned both of them at the same time. "Messiah. Thanatos." He said surprisingly. "I summoned two personas at the same time?"

"You always could." Philemon replied. "In fact, you do so when you use fusion spells. You just never keep more than one out."

Minato scratched his left cheek with his index finger in subtle embarrassment as keeping two personas out never even crossed his mind back then. In any event, it was good information to know and it was time to get back to the task at hand. "Alright Thanatos!" He shouted. "Brave blade!" The persona to his left, Thanatos, let out a roar and and flew towards the shield with blinding speed. Thanatos unsheathed his single-edged sword and once in range sliced the shield clean in half. The piece of the shield shattered and one shield remained in the distance.

"Messiah, Ragnarok!" Minato ordered to his right persona. Messiah's right arm reached out towards the shield as his lower arms spread out like wings. Underneath the shield, the floor began to glow red then without warning, intense flames erupted desolving the shield into oblivion. Thanatos returned to the young deity's side and a soft and slow clap was heard coming from the masked man.

"Well done!" Philemon said. "Once again, you have exceeded my wildest expectations. I believe that you are ready for the journey ahead."

"I'm ready whenever you are." Minato said. "So what's the next step?"

Philemon smiled. "You will be going on a path that I have crafted towards an operation our unknown culprits have at work. Margaret and Elizabeth will accompany you." He stated. "I am saddened to say that I do not know what you will encounter on your road, but I believe in you."

"Farewell, and good luck" As Philemon said those words, Minato's eyes became heavy and then closed.

* * *

><p><strong>? - ? - ?<strong>

**Outside of the Velvet Room**

Minato opened his eyes to find that he was not in Philemon's domain. In front of him stood Elizabeth, Margaret and Victor and behind him was the Velvet room entence only now it was daytime with cloudy skies. "Okay, keeps getting weirder by the minute." He said while noticing that his scythe was now strapped to his back by a leather strap.

"I assume that your meeting with Lord Philemon went well?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, he seemed nice." Minato answered. "So about this investigation."

"We've already been briefed." Margaret announced. "Victor will escort us to our objective."

"Right this way." Victor said as he led the three straight forward. They walked for several minutes and as they walked, Minato noticed gold transparent silhouettes passing them by. They ranged from adults to childen standing or walking around.

"Are those people?" The blue haired boy questioned the two sisters.

"Those are the souls of dreaming humans." Elizabeth stated. "We are residing in a plane between dream and reality. While someone is asleep their body remains in the real world while their mind drifts into a dream. Their souls reside in between.

"I see." Minato said. Victor suddenly stopped and turned back towards the others.

"Here we are." He said as he stepped to the side to show a large hole in the ground. "I wish you success."

Elizabeth and Margaret began to levitate of the ground and over the hole. Minato simply stood and watched.

"You do recall how to levitate, correct?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Oh, um yeah I think so." Minato replied. He concentrated on lifting his body off the ground and sure enough, he was several inches off the ground. He hovered over to the two sisters and for a second lost balance only to recover quick enough to not fall to which Elizabeth giggled and Margaret smiled in responds.

The older sister was the first to descend into the hole soon followed by the younger sister. Minato took a deep breath and looked down into the dark void. Then dropped down to join the others and journey to the deep unknown.

* * *

><p>AN: As always, please review and follow. The next chapter will be quite intense and a few surpises along the way. So until then, see ya.


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